# If Patient is to Doctor, Carer is to... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739 "2015-06-05T20:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jimdigritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@jimdigritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimdigritz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/1 "2015-06-05T20:45:34Z")
I’m writing up a report that deals with Carers/Caregivers. I’ve drawn a complete blank when it comes to how to refer (succinctly) to the people that they care for. Some words I’ve discarded: Patient (They’re not necessarily ill or receiving treatment…) Client (Implies a commercial relationship) Caree (not even a word!) Surely the English language can’t fail on this!! I mean we have: epicaricacy n. - taking pleasure in others’ misfortune but not a noun to describe “someone who is being cared for”? Can anyone help? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/2 "2015-06-05T20:56:34Z")
The closest I can think of is Recipient – caregiver:care recipient. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/3 "2015-06-05T21:20:52Z")
What sense are you using caregiver in? People caring for family members? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/4 "2015-06-05T21:24:31Z")
_Charge_ would probably work. From [Merriam Webster.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charge) > [@](#): > > 1. d : a person or thing committed to the care of another ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/5 "2015-06-05T22:01:06Z")
Infirm ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/6 "2015-06-05T22:03:51Z")
Ward? (Works for Batman) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/7 "2015-06-05T22:06:18Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Ward? (Works for Batman) I thought of that one, but it implies a legal guardianship, not a caregiver relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/8 "2015-06-05T22:15:20Z")
Dependant? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/9 "2015-06-06T09:25:05Z")
Seems to me the real problem is this crappy made-up word “caregiver”. “Care” is just the wrong word. It’s marketing speak. The medical industry is just one person providing a service to another. You’re really going to struggle to come up with one common word which encompasses everything from commercial nursing or doctoring services to a Mom feeding her baby to a spouse making a bed. And this same common word is supposed to exclude barbers and plumbers or spouses DIYing? And be recognizable to your entire audience? Good luck with that. If you’re going to stick with the ugly and awkward (but admittedly largely standard) “caregiver”, then the most neutral and correct term for their target is “carerecipient”. It’s fugly, but it fills the need. Since it’s a brand new neologism you’ll probably do better to spell it “care-recipient”. It’ll lose the hyphen soon enough if it becomes popular. If this Satan’s spawn of a neologism becomes mainstream in the next few years, Ill take the credit; you get the blame. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/10 "2015-06-06T11:21:50Z")
Being a bit facetious; but a rather good word to fill this gap, was coined by Hugh Marriott in his book _The Selfish Pig’s Guide To Caring_: IMO a perceptive work, leavened with rueful dark-ish humour, about how someone thrust – unwillingly at least to some extent – into the position of intensively caring for a severely disabled (in whatever way) relative / spouse / lover / friend, can best cope with the situation. Throughout the book, Marriott refers to the care-recipient, as the “piglet”: an acronym – Person I Give Love & Endless Therapy. On a scale of 0 to 10: I have, “whatever else”, to award the author for this one, at least 9 for ingenuity – maybe 3 or 4 for quality of grammar. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/11 "2015-06-06T11:36:46Z")
I was going to say that “client” works and then realized that you want a word that includes both the person a being cared for by a professional caregiver and one being cared for by an untrained, unpaid spouse. There’s not going to be a good one, because the way we use English just doesn’t work that way. Words like “client” and “patient” don’t define relationships where the client/patients pay for services- but they do define relationships where the care provider would normally be paid. Take “patient” - my sick kid is a patient to the doctor. If he’s in the hospital recovering after surgery, he’s a patient to the nurse. I may be providing just as much care right after the discharge as the nurse did right before the discharge, but no one would ever refer to him as my “patient”- even if I were a doctor or nurse myself… There aren’t any good one-word options - I’ve seen “individual” but it doesn’t sound right and has no advantage over “person”, and I’ve seen “care recipient” and “person receiving care” but those are multiple words. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/12 "2015-06-06T11:44:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you’re going to stick with the ugly and awkward (but admittedly largely standard) “caregiver”, then the most neutral and correct term for their target is “carerecipient”. It’s fugly, but it fills the need. Since it’s a brand new neologism you’ll probably do better to spell it “care-recipient”. It’ll lose the hyphen soon enough if it becomes popular. If the term-of-reference is “caregiver”, ISTM the best “matching” term is “caregetter”. Also a horrible neologism of course, but at least a slightly shorter one… ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/13 "2015-06-06T12:59:02Z")
How about “recipient” ? It won’t work in every case, but it seems like it should be a useful word for many passages of the book you’re writing. examples: 1. For a chapter on medical advice: " Have the recipient lay on his back while you give him…" 2. For a chapter on legal advice : “The recipient under your care is entitled to…” ---
**Author:** ![lilihob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@lilihob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilihob)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/14 "2015-06-06T13:11:02Z")
In England, I think we often use “invalid”. Now, I’m looking at the word written out, I don’t like it. In valid, no, I don’t like it. The NHS use “person looked after” but that’s quite clumsy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/15 "2015-06-06T21:25:00Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > If the term-of-reference is “caregiver”, ISTM the best “matching” term is “caregetter”. > > Also a horrible neologism of course, but at least a slightly shorter one… I preferred “caretaker” myself (cf. “give and take”) but that word already has another overriding meaning. I considered “caregetter” but thought it sounded even worse than “carrecipient”. YMMV. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/16 "2015-06-06T21:50:57Z")
I vote for ‘cared-for’ or why not coin a new word that you rejected - caree? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/17 "2015-06-07T00:57:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > If the term-of-reference is “caregiver”, ISTM the best “matching” term is “caregetter”. > > Also a horrible neologism of course, but at least a slightly shorter one… Or (wait for it!) how about the counterparty to a _caregiver_ is a _caretaker_. Oh, wait a minute. That’s already a word! (ETA: So far, just repeating **LSLGuy**.) Wait, it gets even worse! _Caretaker_ is synonymous (sort-of) with _caregiver_ ! Such is English. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/18 "2015-06-07T04:15:39Z")
Most counties in California use the term “[consumers](http://hss.sbcounty.gov/PA/RegistryServices/default.htm#consumer_corner)” ---
**Author:** ![Jakeohara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@Jakeohara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakeohara)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/19 "2015-06-07T16:12:04Z")
Service User is the preferred nomenclature in my line of work (working with older people) and throughout the social services in the country I live and work in. Admittedly, it’s an extremely broad term but I think it works in describing the relationship in terms of both parties being equal. ---
**Author:** ![Orson\_Carte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Orson\_Carte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orson_Carte)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739/20 "2015-06-08T00:11:21Z")
I think I’d concur with Eliahna, above, who suggested ‘dependant’. Considering that ‘patient’ is derived from the Latin, ‘patiens’ (meaning ‘one who suffers’), ‘dependant’ would possibly better-describe the general relationship that people have with a doctor; in that one does not necessarily have to be ‘suffering’ to be considered a doctor’s patient, but merely be on his/her list of ‘dependants’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-patient-is-to-doctor-carer-is-to/721739.md?page=2)